Pages

Sunday, September 1, 2013

Flight: the Genius of Birds

Documentary

63 minutes, 2013
Rating: 9/10

I watched this with my three-year-old daughter and we had the exact same reaction: “Wow!” Flight takes a look at the design of birds and focuses particularly on hummingbirds, starlings and artic terns.

All three have their wow moments:

the hummingbird with how its tongue works

the starlings with how thousands of them can come together in giant, flexing living clouds – this was awesome!

the artic terns in how they can migrate from one end of the planet to the other every year

I was thinking about not including the trailer with this one, because the trailer manages to make this remarkable film look almost boring (you can find the trailer below). That just isn't so – this is amazing, a documentary you will watch again and again!

While the hour-long film did tax the interest of my daughter - about half way through she returned to her Lego - the next day she was asking to see the rest of it. The impressive computer graphics, and the continuous close-up, slow-motion, and wide-angle shots make this a visual feast. It is intended for adults, but suitable for, and enthralling for, children too – unlike some nature documentaries, this has no violence; no predator and prey shots, so it really is child-friendly. I really can’t imagine anyone not loving this.

The thesis of Flight is that the intricacies involved in birds’ ability to fly gives evidence of a Designer. But the producers don’t specifically name the Designer; they don’t specifically give God the credit He is due. But what the producers don’t do, viewers are sure to – you can’t watch this without praising God!